The Reform of Family Law

After 18 months of work, the Australian Law Reform Commission has recently reported on its recommendations to amend the family law system. The report Family Law for the Future has 60 recommendations in all.

Of the suggested reforms the most important are the changes to the family court system. A radical suggestion is that the federal family courts should be abolished and replaced by the establishment of family courts in all states and territories.

Amongst other important areas in the report containing recommendations are children’s matters and a simplified approach to property division.

The report suggests amending the Family Law Act regarding what factors are to be considered when determining a child’s best interests and the presumption of equal shared parental responsibility should be changed to a presumption of “joint decision making about major long-term issues.”

Several recommendations are aimed at changing the way financial disputes are managed including the presumption of equality of contributions during the relationship and a presumption that the value of superannuation assets are split equally between the parties.

Also proposed are how orders for costs should be made or when arbitration should be used.

Overall the Commission hopes that if the recommendations are implemented, they would improve the efficiency of the court system and improve outcomes, especially for children. The principal recommendation of establishing state- and territory-based family law courts has been called "radical" and would significantly change the way Australian families navigate family breakdowns and disputes in the court system.

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